LiteraryCapstone6 - Research Paper

Jacob Mewborn
Walls
World Lit. G
20 October 2014
Locke’s America

John Locke’s philosophies are still present throughout the world. His conceptions challenged the popular views of the people much like the other philosophers in his time. A variety of his thoughts are upheld throughout time, but some of his views have been lost. Societies have chosen to take his ideas and use them to govern their people. Locke’s ideas about natural rights, reasoning versus logic, and government still apply to America’s society.
Locke is extremely passionate about his idea of natural rights, and the United States uses them to govern its country.
1. Although America applies Locke’s natural rights to its government by writing them in its constitution, some of his ideas are not represented in the community.
  1. Locke’s three natural rights include “life, liberty, and possession of property” ("John Locke - Biography").
  2. He passionately argues that “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty and possessions” (BrainyQuote.com); moreover, he wants to present how natural rights are free to everyone and anyone regardless of their background.
  3. The natural rights are “quoted almost verbatim in Thomas Jefferson’s 1776 Declaration of Independence” (History.com), and he also creates the concept of freedom of religion in this time.
    1. Many Americans believe in the process of abortion, so is the United States really upholding the natural right of life?
2. One of Locke’s biggest philosophies is the idea of natural rights and how everyone is entitled to them, but Americans still struggle with that idea.
In the Enlightenment period, John Locke begins the notion of using one’s reasoning and logic versus his or her senses to perceive the world which the world today has synthesized into one.
1. Americans always need a reason for an action or phenomenon, and they choose to explain it through logic, but when they cannot explain an anomaly, their views rely on the senses.
  1. Similar to the Enlightenment or otherwise known as “the Age of Reason” ("Age of Enlightenment”), America mostly relies on its reasoning and logic rather than its five senses of sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell.
  2. Locke claims that all of our thoughts and ideas come from “that which we have taken in through the senses” (Gaarder 259).
    1. His ideas on perceiving the world jumpstart the other philosophers in his time to start thinking on how people think which creates much of the philosophies in the Enlightenment Period.
2. Reasoning and logic are used more than the five senses in the United States to explain a situation which contrasts Locke’s ideas on how people need to perceive the world through their senses.
The government is hated by its people in the Enlightenment era, but John Locke proposes a new idea on why the government is necessary for society; however, the view on the government in America has not changed.
1. Locke believes the government’s sole purpose is to protect its people.
  1. In other words, he thought the government is necessary because it “protect[s] the life, liberty and property of people” (“A Biography of John Locke (1632-1704)").
    1. America’s government passes many laws that protect its people regardless if the citizens recognize it or not.
  2. He clarifies this thought by saying that “the end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom" (BrainyQuote.com).
    1. Through his words, Locke tries to explain that because of the laws and penalties placed on society by the government, the world or community is able to live freely from fear.
2. If Locke were here today, he would see how the government truly does protect its people with its excessive laws, but he would also realize how the government is still irking to society much like the peoples of the Enlightenment.
Locke’s ideas about natural rights, reasoning versus logic, and government still apply to America’s society. His ideas have shaped the way Americans think and act; furthermore, America is a direct representation of his philosophies. John Locke’s footprint is seen throughout America’s culture and timeline in the way that they perceive the world, treat government, and value natural rights.

Works Cited
"A Biography of John Locke (1632-1704)." N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. sgf b
"Age of Enlightenment." Princeton University. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994. Print.
"John Locke - Biography." John Locke. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
"John Locke." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2014. 26 September 2014.
"John Locke." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.